{"nrhp_refnum":"06000450","name":"Jennings Ford Automobile Dealership","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"431 S. Fourth St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Springfield","county":"Sangamon County","state":"IL","lat":39.79932674400004,"lon":-89.65111771199997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2006-05-31","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-story brick and terra-cotta automobile dealership building at 431 S. Fourth Street, at Fourth and Jackson streets in Springfield, Illinois, built in 1919 for Ford dealer Frank Jennings and designed by architect Harry Reiger.","why_significant":"The building is significant under Criterion A for commerce as a purpose-built automobile dealership on Springfield's original automobile row. It illustrates the early acceptance of the automobile in the city and the move toward dealerships combining sales, service and repair under one roof. Few such buildings remain downtown.","narrative":"Built in 1919 at Fourth and Jackson streets in Springfield, this three-story brick building was designed by local architect Harry Reiger for Ford dealer Frank Jennings. It replaced a former girls' school mansion on the edge of the old Aristocracy Hill neighborhood and cost over $200,000. Its brick walls are divided by white glazed terra-cotta piers and banding, and large metal windows brought daylight inside. The first floor held a showroom with limed oak paneling and plaster ornament, along with repair bays. Upper floors held a parts room, workshop and paint shop, reached by an automobile elevator. Contemporary reports called it the first completely fireproof garage in Springfield. The building is valued as an example of the fully integrated dealership offering sales, service and repair in one place. Later occupants included other dealerships, a telephone company garage and a state library office. Few purpose-built dealerships from Springfield's early automobile row survive.","period_of_significance":"1919 - 1950","architect_builder":"Reiger, Harry","architectural_style":"Late 19th and Early 20th Century Movements: Commercial Style","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Listed as work in progress; original steel windows, deteriorated, are being replaced with approved matching windows and the 1960s storefront is to be replaced.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:37.724384-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/68/8940/28894068/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/06000450.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/06000450/72c9f4f133-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/06000450/72c9f4f133-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Teemu08","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jennings_Ford_Automobile_Dealership.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Teemu08</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jennings_Ford_Automobile_Dealership.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28894068","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jennings_Ford_Automobile_Dealership","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q19462616"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/sangamon-county/jennings-ford-automobile-dealership-06000450/"}